SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 28 -- Intevac Inc. has received an order from a Japanese customer for a D-STAR flat panel display sputtering system. The system is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2002. Intevac's chairman and CEO, Norman H. Pond, said, "This system will be used by our customer to deposit silicon films for the manufacture of low-temperature polysilicon active matrix flat panel displays. Historically, the industry has used a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to deposit these amorphous silicon films. "Intevac's sputtering, or physical vapor deposition process, offers significant advantages to the flat panel display manufacturer," Pond said. "The Intevac sputtering process offers greater flexibility in process control and improved process windows, which should lead to higher process yields." Pond added that unlike CVD processes, the sputtering process avoids the use of hydrogen compounds, an important factor in achieving successful conversion of the deposited amorphous silicon to polysilicon. "The sputtering process is also inherently cleaner, as it utilizes no toxic gasses," he said.